Sustainability on campus

Net zero

The university has committed to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The 2023–24 academic year has seen a 45.6% reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions against a 2009–10 baseline. This reduction has been achieved through a range of projects, including installing solar panels, rolling out energy-efficient LED lighting and developing a state-of-the-art data centre. 

The university’s Net Zero Carbon Management Strategy 2022–2025 sets out the guiding principles for how we will approach carbon reduction. The university has committed to achieving net zero by 2050 and is in the process of identifying a suitable, sustainable plan for achieving this.

The strategy has a focus on decarbonising our buildings, with three key themes:

• demand reduction – improvements to building fabric, energy efficiency and resource optimisation to minimise the university’s energy demand
• energy generation – producing our own clean, affordable energy
• responsible energy procurement – source our remaining energy needs from sustainable sources.

The university measures its carbon footprint annually using the EAUC’s Standardised Carbon Emissions Reporting Framework for FE and HE organisations (SCEF), which are reported in the university financial statements. 

Renewables

More than 1,600 solar panels are installed across our campuses; these generated over 630,000kWh last year (2023–24), resulting in cost savings of more than £180,000 and reducing our annual carbon emissions by over 130 tonnes.

The solar arrays at Grand Parade and Varley were installed through an innovative collaboration with 黑料吃瓜网 Energy Co-operative – a community energy organisation whose members invest to develop renewable energy systems in 黑料吃瓜网 and the south-east.

We have also installed solar hot water panels on the roof of the Huxley building at Moulsecoomb.

Sustainable buildings

Our campuses are home to a wide variety of building types, ranging from old 19^th century buildings to tailor-made new builds. As set out in our Net Zero Carbon Management Strategy 2022–2025, construction and renovation projects will give priority to fabric efficiency, energy efficiency and on-site generation, consistent with Passivhaus and EnerPHit design standards to enable the transition to zero-carbon forms of heating.

Installation of more efficient lighting at our Aldrich and Falmer libraries is saving 48 tonnes of carbon a year. The recent replacement of metal halide floodlights at Falmer Sports pitches with new LED luminaries is expected to reduce energy use and the associated carbon emissions by more than 50%.

Heating and ventilation is a significant contributor to a building’s carbon footprint, which is why we’ve implemented a range of initiatives to lower this impact.

• Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) system – an innovative way of heating and cooling one of our largest buildings using water from hot and cold wells below the site. This reduces reliance on fossil fuels for space heating.
• An extensive building energy management system (BMS) – ensuring our buildings are comfortable places to work and study, while striving for the most efficient use of energy across our campuses.
• Combined Heat and Power (CHP) units – reducing carbon emissions by generating electricity at the same time as providing heat. The use of natural gas means this is not a zero-carbon technology, however it currently provides a viable means of reducing emissions at locations with significant heat demand.
• Building fabric upgrades – improvements to the building fabric reduce heat demand and therefore the energy required for heating. Refurbishment projects in recent years have seen improved window glazing installed in Mithras House and much of the Cockcroft Building.

As outlined in our , designs for new and refurbished buildings will be guided by our goal of achieving net zero carbon usage. Our sets out our targets and strategies to achieve this.

Green IT

With IT equipment playing an integral role in the work of a modern university, we’re working hard to ensure our IT services are run as sustainably as possible.

A key success has been the development of a state-of-the-art water-cooled data centre on our Moulsecoomb campus, providing energy-efficient housing for current and future departmental servers.

With a significant number of computers across our campuses, the installation of power-down software has played a key role in minimising the carbon emissions of our IT systems. The software ensures that all computers are automatically powered down when not in use, avoiding energy waste.

Embedding sustainability

We’re striving to embed sustainability throughout all our practices. Our university’s approach to engaging students and staff is framed by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), influencing our teaching and learning, research, public and community engagement and campus operations.

黑料吃瓜网 Graduate Attributes 

Designed to enhance experience and employability, every student will develop key transferable skills and values that empower our graduates with the individual and collective agency for wider-scale positive social change. We have embedded these skills and values into our 黑料吃瓜网 Graduate Attributes. 

Sustainable curriculum

At the 黑料吃瓜网, sustainability is integrated into all teaching and learning through research-informed teaching. This innovative approach combines learning with research skills and knowledge exchange, encouraging students across disciplines to explore education for sustainable development (ESD). The ESD approach focuses on real-world themes of student concern such as the cost of living, wellbeing, equalities and the climate and ecological emergency.

Staff and students across our academic schools are working together to actively engage with the UN SDGs in teaching and learning:

• Our School of Architecture, Technology and Engineering has advanced sustainable architecture practices.
• Our School of Business and Law embeds the SDGs in its professional practices and research activities.
• The School of Humanities and Social Science has introduced modules framed around specific SDGs.
• The School of Education, Sport and Health Sciences (formerly the School of Sport and Health Sciences) has committed to the  Nurses Climate Challenge Europe and takes a sustainable approach to practice in sport and healthcare.

Campuses as a living lab

Our campuses serve as a ‘living lab’ for sustainable development, providing real-world learning opportunities for our students. Our utilises university buildings for research and teaching, and projects in 2025-26 have incuded:

• Building Performance analysis, MEng Mechanical Engineering
• Campus Solar Integration and Retrofit Initiative, group project for MSc Engineering Management
• Energy Efficiency Retrofitting Project, group project for MSc Engineering Management

Additionally, our enhances graduate skills through real-world, paid environmental surveying opportunities on an annual basis, boosting employability in biodiversity conservation. 

Strategy for student and staff engagement

Our strategies set clear objectives and milestones for engaging both students and staff, monitored through the Sustainability and Environmental Policy statement 2022–25 with annual updates. Regular sustainability surveys assess behaviours, awareness and performance among university stakeholders; these are detailed further in our governance and policies.

Travel

Aligned with our , the university aims to shift commuter transport towards mass transit, walking and cycling. Annual travel surveys inform efforts to enhance active travel options. Every term we offer free bike maintenance sessions for students and staff to ensure their bikes are safe when cycling and encourage safe travel to the university.

Events

Throughout the year a variety of events and campaigns are held to engage students and staff in sustainability, promoting wellbeing and sustainable choices in daily life to reduce  emissions and their impact on the environment.

Staff and students can stay up to date with sustainability events and campaigns through the university’s internal news channels – My 黑料吃瓜网 and Staff Central. In the 2025-26, the sustainability team has led and promoted a wide variety of events, including:

• Termly - free bike maintenance sessions (October/ February/May)
• Monthly - gardening clubs at Moulsecoomb and Falmer

• October – Freshers Fair
• November – British Heart Foundation Pop up shop
• December – Restoration of the Chalk Grassland
• February – Hedgehog vet talk
• April – City Nature Challenge and Falmer Travel Roadshow
• May - Falmer Rangers volunteering with Sussex Wildlife Trust

Funding for students 

The University provides funding for student-led sustainability initiatives. In 2026, this included a series of biodiversity-focused projects including a guest talk from a hedgehog veterinary surgeon, support for the construction of bug hotels, and funding for the planting of native species in raised planters across two campus locations.

In addition, students can access wider enterprise funding through the University’s Student Enterprise Fund, which includes the START and GROW grant programmes. These schemes support students and recent graduates developing business ideas, creative practices, social enterprises, or freelance ventures, with a strong emphasis on sustainability, social impact, and innovation.

Staff inductions and training

During mandatory new staff induction days, our Sustainability Team introduces our sustainability policy through attending the in-person induction day session. Sustainability is also a specific component in the Welcome to 黑料吃瓜网 – Your Induction Essentials eLearning module, addressing biodiversity, the Environmental Management System, energy and water, waste and recycling, and travel and parking. 

Student inductions

Sustainability is one of the core values of the university and is therefore an important part of student inductions. Students are encouraged to familiarise themselves with our sustainability policy and what it means for them during their time at university. Students are signposted to where they can stay up to date on upcoming sustainability events, such as tree planting, conservation opportunities and bike workshops.

Student-led evaluations

We encourage students to get involved in evaluations. Anually students from the School of Education, Sport and Health Sciences, or BSMS complete the (PHRC), a student-led initiative where, with support from their teachers, they use a metric-based tool to evaluate how well planetary health is addressed in their course and the institution.

Research

The 黑料吃瓜网 has a long, rich and diverse history in making a transformative difference to society through research and knowledge exchange. Through our collaborations and partnerships, we share our insights, solve practical problems and shape debate around creating a better future, we do this: 

• across the natural and technological world by addressing aspects of climate change and biodiversity loss, investigating future green fuels, sustainable construction and design practices, advancing inclusive art practice, as well as making advances in health and wellbeing.
• in the economic and social spheres by tackling issues such as clean, accessible and affordable food and water supplies, promoting peace in conflict-torn communities and tackling social injustice, housing problems and harnessing the power of global informatics
• by prompting real-world change through debate or critical and cultural intervention that can surface deeper issues, consolidate communities for change and sustain the world through cultural inclusivity, opportunity and participation.

Our work breaks boundaries, bringing together diverse disciplines, international partners and individuals from academia, industry and beyond. Through our collaborations and partnerships, we share our insights, solve practical problems and shape debate towards creating a better future for all.

Visit our research and knowledge exchange magazine and Ignite page to find out more.

Partnership and Community Engagement

The 黑料吃瓜网 actively works with local community groups and organisations to tackle social disadvantage and inequalities and build sustainable communities. We take an innovative approach to public and community engagement, aiming to address the UN SDGs through our work whilst inspiring others to do so.

Our Community University Partnership Programme (CUPP) creates sustainable partnerships, helps develop ideas into projects, provides start-up funding and helps develop networks and communities of practice.

Our cultural institutions, including the nationally-accredited , enable us to reach and galvanise new audiences.

The university’s award-winning Green Growth Platform supports Sussex’s thriving green sector through business support, innovation and research and development support, events and opportunities for skills development, delivered by a team of industry experts, business advisors and university specialists.

Not only do we widen participation through our outreach work, we also support schools in challenged communities and take immense pride in our students for their volunteering, entrepreneurship and community project endeavours. 

The university’s Sustainability Team supports local community partnerships throughout the year on small-scale projects, including 黑料吃瓜网 & Hove Food Partnership, Surfers Against Sewage and the 黑料吃瓜网 Bike Hub.

Waste and recycling

Our aim at the Brighton is to promote a zero-waste culture of ‘rethink, reduce, reuse and recycle’ in order to significantly reduce waste and increase recycling across all areas of the university estate. The university is working towards its waste and recycling goal of 62% by 2030.

This means reducing packaging; cutting down on paper use; reducing and recycling food waste; helping staff share surplus resources internally and with local organisations; running the annual reuse project in our halls of residence; and investing heavily in recycling facilities across our campuses.

What happens to waste on campus?

Mixed recycling

Our mixed recycling is collected by The Recycling Partnership which sorts the recyclable materials into individual material types before it is reprocessed.

General waste

General waste is taken to a transfer facility for inspection before being taken to the Energy Recovery Centre where it is incinerated to generate electricity which powers local homes and businesses. 

Glass

Glass is taken to the glass recycling facility where it is crushed, cleaned and sorted by colour. 

Food waste

Food waste is collected from 黑料吃瓜网 halls and catering areas. It is then transported to an anaerobic digestion plant where it is processed to produce a biogas and biofertiliser. Biogas helps to produce renewable energy to power homes and businesses, while biofertiliser is an essential ingredient in farming and is spread on fields to help crops grow.

Reuse

At the 黑料吃瓜网, we follow the waste hierarchy and encourage reuse. Our Reuse Teams channel ensures staff's unwanted office items, equipment and furniture are rehomed and reused by colleagues instead of being thrown away. The University also works with charities to redistribute and reuse any surplus furniture, electrical equipment and office consumables. Furniture that is not reusable is recycled. The items are carefully broken down and materials separated for recycling.

Reuse project 

At the end of each academic year we run our successful reuse project, where we partner with the British Heart Foundation to encourage students moving out of halls to donate their unwanted items. In 2025 our students donated 751 bags of clothes and household items, helping to raise over £10,000 for the British Heart Foundation and diverting 5.5 tonnes of waste. 

Water 

The 黑料吃瓜网 encourages students, staff and visitors to bring reusable water bottles to campus and refill them at water fountains across campus. 

.

Supporting sustainable travel

The university encourages active and sustainable travel to and from our campuses and helps people avoid the need to travel by having online meetings or conference calls, supported by the university’s Agile Working Framework.

Our campus travel plans outline the actions being taken on each campus to encourage use of active and sustainable travel modes, and include:

• staff and student sustainable travel discounts
• access to a wealth of travel information for students and staff
• on-campus facilities including cycle parking, showers and lockers
• – providing tax-free salary-sacrifice bike purchases for staff
• salary-sacrifice travel season ticket loans for staff
• staff access to travel discounts through the
• free one-month bus pass from 黑料吃瓜网 & Hove Buses for eligible new staff
• hi-vis and safety accessory giveaways, competitions and engagement activities.

Our Moulsecoomb campus plan is accredited to Good (Bronze), recognising effective development, implementation and monitoring of the travel plan.

The university is also a member of the Southeast Communities Rail Partnership’s Steering Group. The group connects communities to their railways along the line between Seaford and 黑料吃瓜网 and encourages travel by train and engagement with the railway.

Business travel and offsetting

University employees should consider how and if they need to travel for business purposes, to support the university’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions.

Colleagues are required to:

• travel only when absolutely essential, following the principles of the sustainable travel hierarchy to consider whether travel is required and if the work can be carried out online or virtually
• travel by the most cost-effective method which in most circumstances will be bus or standard-class rail travel
• only travel overseas where it is deemed essential and the activity can’t be carried out otherwise.

These commitments are outlined in the university’s Expenses Policy, and travel costs will not be reimbursed if the policy is not adhered to.

Under normal business circumstances, colleagues will be discouraged from taking flights between mainland UK destinations unless this prevents colleagues with disabilities or caring responsibilities from travelling or the flight is part of a connection with an overseas flight.

Colleagues can also book use of an electric car or van for local travel to support emissions reduction.

Colleagues can find more information about working off campus on the , including:

• details of Microsoft packages available for download and access off campus
• guidance using MS Teams for collaboration
• accessing staff email.

Offsetting

The university does not currently support offsetting as a means of reducing carbon emissions and instead promotes investment to reduce operational emissions. Offsetting will be required to meet our net-zero target but will only be used to offset unavoidable emissions after all feasible reductions have been made. This approach is outlined in the university’s Carbon Offsetting Position Statement.

Travel survey 

Our annual travel survey asks students and staff about their travel habits to the university. The survey results are used to inform the development of travel facilities and initiatives across the campuses, monitor progress towards our travel targets and inform development of our travel plans.

.

Biodiversity

We strive to preserve and protect natural habitats and biodiversity on our campuses, creating new opportunities for wildlife wherever possible.

In addition to nurturing local habitats, our biodiversity work helps create a better environment for the university community, promoting staff and student wellbeing and increasing enjoyment of our campuses.

The university has developed a with the School of Applied Sciences that includes biodiversity initiatives such as:

• improved management of biodiversity at Moulsecoomb and Falmer
• better management of habitat corridors
• a reduction in the amount of chemicals used on our campuses
• the installation of green roofs.

Falmer Gardening Collective

The Falmer Gardening Collective is a staff-led initiative that began in 2023 with the aim of transforming a run-down allotment space on campus into an outdoor community hub that both staff and students can enjoy.

To kick-start the project, staff donated seeds and plants and the Sustainability Team supplied peat-free compost and a greenhouse to ensure the allotment can be tended to all year round. The site now has wildflowers, a vegetable patch, a fruit bed and a mixed bed which includes a mature bay tree.

In spring 2025 a Gardening focus group was established to share best practice among colleagues and explore ideas to further develop a welcoming and vibrant community for garden lovers across campus. During the 2025-2026 academic year the Gardening collective has grown a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs that have started to be harvested and taken home by staff and students to enjoy.

The Dye Garden

The Dye Garden was created in 2014 by both staff and students, predominantly from the School of Art and Media, with the aim of starting an academic project that would support staff and MDes Textiles research.

Having been a build site for many years, the ground was compacted and the first summer was spent manually digging into the chalk to prepare for the project. It quickly became a success, and over ten years on in 2026 the garden continues to grow a range of plants that are used for extracting pigment to make into ink for use in creative practices in the school. This year the beds are being developed further so the garden can produce a wider range of dye plants and larger quantities of key colours, such as woad, madder and weld which produce blue, red and yellow respectively.

Student-led projects

Students from the School of Applied Sciences have undertaken butterfly, hedgehog and bird surveys to help develop an ecological appraisal of our Falmer campus and inform our People and Nature Plan. 2026 is the fourth year the student-led project has been run and it continues to be supported by the university through guidance and training from the School of Applied Science’s ecology unit and the provision of funds to support two students over three weeks. 

Hedgehog Friendly Campus

Hedgehogs are one of Britain’s best known and loved mammals, but they have seen a 75% decline in numbers in some areas since 2000. To help our spiky friends, 黑料吃瓜网 students and staff have collaborated to attain Silver Hedgehog Friendly campus certification. The scheme aims to raise awareness of the plight of hedgehogs while taking practical steps to improve habitats and circumstances for hedgehogs across university campuses. There are a variety of ways students and staff can get involved – from installing log piles and hedgehog houses and running social media campaigns, to writing blog posts, litter-picking and taking part in campus hedgehog surveys.

Chalk grassland 

As part of the university’s ongoing commitment to enhancing biodiversity and sustainability across its campuses, students, staff and volunteers from the Sussex Wildlife Trust’s Wilder Communities team came together in 2026 to continue to restore and protect the chalk grassland –an essential local habitat – at its Falmer campus.

The hands-on conservation project focuses on controlling invasive species and ensuring that the chalk grassland remains a thriving haven for both wildlife and the local community.

Falmer’s chalk grassland is part of the Westlain Plantation, designated as a Local Wildlife Site by 黑料吃瓜网 & Hove City Council. These sites are some of the most important wildlife habitats in Sussex, and the restoration efforts aim to protect this rich and diverse ecosystem, ensuring its survival for years to come.